1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to authentication credential management techniques and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for synchronizing updates of authentication credentials across a plurality of domains.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many computing environments, a user must utilize authentication credentials to access each available web service within a particular environment. Such environments include business enterprises, walled gardens, and the like. The services provided within these environments are exposed as distinct services to network users, i.e., each service is presented within a different domain. Consequently, within a single business enterprise, a user may be required to use a different password for each domain, e.g., accounting, human resources, various projects, various departments, and so on. Within each of these domains, there may be a plethora of dependent services that also utilize various authentication credentials, e.g., user name and password combinations. To provide organization to the authentication credentials, these disparate web services are often linked together to a common authentication source such as an authentication credential directory.
To assist a user in remembering the numerous authentication credentials, a user typically utilizes a browser password manager that accesses the authentication credential directory. Browser password managers typically use a server address or a service's uniform resource locator (URL) (herein referred to as a domain address or domain) as a unique identifying attribute when storing authentication credentials related to each particular domain. When a password in one of these directories has been changed, the entries for all dependent services need to be changed as well. Currently, as each website is visited for the first time after a password change, the stored copy of the password (usually concealed) will fail and need to be updated. In some enterprises, this updating process may require accessing a large number of servers and updating the password information in each server. This is time-consuming and an inefficient use of enterprise resources.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for synchronizing updates of authentication credentials across domains.